• U.S. Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-California) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced the Keep Families Together Act, a legislation that would mandate immigration enforcement to prioritize keeping families together and provide guidelines to ensure they are kept together throughout the legal process, according to a July 11 statement from Butler’s office. In 2018, the Trump administration announced a policy of family separations, which resulted in more than 5,000 children being separated from their parents. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of separated families, Ms. L v. U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement, which ultimately resulted in a settlement agreement with the Biden administration. Despite the Biden administration’s Family Reunification Task Forces’ efforts, 2,000 children still have not been reunited with their parents, according to Butler’s office. “The Keep Families Together Act would ensure that our nation promotes family unity, rather than tearing them apart,” Butler said in the statement. Specifically, the legislation prohibits separating children from their parents at the U.S. border, except in extraordinary circumstances. It also mandates that the Department of Homeland Security create policies that enable parents and children to locate and reunite with one another if they are separated; consult with immigrant advocacy organizations, child welfare organizations, and state child welfare agencies when developing procedures; and require an annual report to Congress describing each instance when a child is separated from their parent or legal guardian.
• The New Democrat Coalition announced it endorsed 15 public safety bills, including the Filling Public Safety Vacancies Act, written by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), to help local police departments mitigate staffing shortages, according to a July 10 statement from Carbajal’s office. Specifically the bill provides an emergency boost to the federal grant program that provides funding to the departments for the purposes of recruitment and hiring. “Law enforcement officials keep our families, neighborhoods, and communities safe. While our departments are stepping up to combat crime, gun violence, the opioid epidemic, and natural disasters, they should not have to worry about not having the resources they need to recruit, vet, and hire officers they need on the beat,” Carbajal said in the statement. “I’m proud to earn the endorsement of my New Democrat Coalition colleagues on my common-sense legislation to invest in public safety for all of our communities. The Filling Public Safety Vacancies Act is bipartisan recognition that our departments need more help from the federal government after years of declining hiring and staff shortages.” With an infusion of an additional $162 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program, the bill would double the amount of federal grant funding available for local departments this fiscal year, according to Carbajal’s office.
• Ramping up efforts to crack down on crime in the East Bay, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an increase to the amount of California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers deployed in Oakland, according to a July 11 statement from the governor’s office. Through these efforts, Oakland has seen the recovery of 1,142 stolen cars, the seizure of 55 guns linked to crimes, and 562 arrests since February. As part of this CHP’s expanded operation, Newsom will quadruple the number of shifts officers conduct in Oakland and increase surge operations over the next four months in the city, providing a CHP presence in the city every day of the week. The operations, which were scheduled to begin July 15, will target organized crime, sideshows, carjackings, and other criminal activity seven days a week. CHP will refer certain complex cases to the Office of the Attorney General for prosecution. “While we are encouraged by some positive trends, the lawlessness we’re seeing on the streets of Oakland is unacceptable,” Newsom said in the statement. “Building on our partnership with local law enforcement, I’m deploying a new surge of CHP officers to help provide the people of Oakland and the East Bay the safety and security they deserve.”